Far From Perfect

Six yards of beautiful dirt was delivered to my home yesterday. The dirt came from a place where they dredged a pond and is a nice mix of peat, topsoil and loon shit. When we ordered it we had some choices one of which was topsoil off an alfalfa field. I wouldn't even consider that one because of all the chemicals I was sure they have used on that field. I didn't want that stuff in my garden.

After a nice paddle on the Turtle River my sister came over to help me shovel the dirt into my raised beds. She's putting in sweat equity in exchange for fresh produce. Two of my newer beds are filled with grass. I couldn't even dig it out it was so thick. So, I walked into the garage, grabbed the Round Up and headed to the offending beds. I pumped air into the sprayer and pressed the nozzle. Nothing. I pumped some more. Nothing. On my third round of pumping I realized what I was about to do. I stood up, looked at my sister and said, "Well, I guess this is the Universe speaking to me."

I wasn't even thinking of the implications or what a hypocrite I was when I grabbed the Round Up. I was just looking for an easy way out of the weeds. Convenience at the expense of...health? Bees? I wasn't even thinking about how I rail against Monsanto or Cargill or Bayer. I just wanted to get the weeds gone.

In the end I found that we had some weed block fabric which we put down and shoveled dirt on top of. The Round Up is back in the garage next to the Seven Dust and another insect killer I bought last year for the Japanese Beetle infestation I had. I'm not sure what to do with my poison collection for now. I do know that I will not be using them this year or ever again. Next year I'm planning on a hive or two of bees for my property. I can't be using stuff I know will harm them.  I'm already concerned about the lack of pollinators for  this years garden.

I assume the Japanese beetles will be back as will the cut worms, potato beetles, slugs and other insects. My garden will be far from perfect this year. I will probably not get all the weeds out, especially the grass in the new beds but I will, at least, not be running more chemicals into the ground and doing in my beneficial bugs. And the bees....my garden will be a safe haven for bees. That will help me sleep better at night.

Peace,
Karen
(who is far from perfect)

Bees and MPR

As I was getting ready to write today's blog I spotted this on Facebook. Below is a  link to an MPR* segment about the diminishing bee population. While our hives are thriving there are many who have hives perishing. This should concern all of us whether we keep bees or not. Bees are critical to our food supply and, as I was told over the weekend by a local bee keeper, if the bees were gone today we'd be gone about 4 years later...something to think on.

Here is the link: 
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/05/26/environment/pesticides-suspected-in-minnesota-bee-deaths


Peace,
Karen

*MPR - Minnesota Public Radio

Radical Apiary Dronectomy

The following blog contains graphic descriptions & images....you have been warned!

The Bee Team

If you've been tagging along on our journey you know that a few nights ago Kris and I discovered a problem in one of our hives. A drone problem to be exact.

We (Kris, Bill and I) along with our auxiliary team members David, Dee and Mike and special guest Lisa went back down to the bee yard to solve our little drone problem. In full bee gear, except me because I have a bad case of bravado, we went in with surgical precision and performed a procedure which we now call a Radical Apiary Dronectomy.

Fist we anesthetized our bees with smoke, then we carefully lifted the frames one by one, checked for the queen and using the hive tool we scraped all the drone cells off of the bottom of the frame. It  was not a pretty site. Large white drone larva oozed from the cells and dripped onto frames. If the sight of carnage was not enough there was also an accompanying sound which I believe David described as popping a chocolate covered cherry. I thought it sounded more like running over army worms with your roller blades. This was not for the squeamish. We lost a few of the auxiliary members at this point.

After we scraped the drones off we also removed supercedure and swarm cells. Threw on the queen excluder, added third deep and closed up the hive. Surgery was over. We hoped we had not accidentally scraped off our queen. This was our only concern.

Below are pictures of our latest adventure in beekeeping - special thanks to David for taking them. As we looked at the pictures that night we were happy to discover we had a picture of our queen. She was up in the second deep safe and sound.

Peace,
Karen

Our ladies of the hive

The mass hanging below the frame is drone cells

Drone Cells

Drone Cells on the ground next to the hive tool.

More Problems than Pictures

Ask two bee-keepers a question and you'll get three different answers.

The problem? Mostly amateur beekeepers and our big super hive aka Lyle's hive. It has a lot of bees and apparently not enough work. Kris and I were on our own today for hive inspection. Bill was out on the soccer field with grade school kids. (Another kind of problem all together) All went well until our last hive, Lyle's, which we always save for last.

A week or so ago we put a second deep on that hive because it was so big. Our theory was give them more to do and reduce the risk of a swarm. Just so you know, swarm is good and bad. Good if you catch it because you get another hive of bees for free. Bad if you don't because you lose 50 - 70% of a hive which will not be able to recover enough to produce your honey for fall.

Kris and I cracked Lyle's hive. The top deep had new drawn out comb in the center which was good. But the big question was...do we check the bottom deep or not? *cricket, cricket, cricket* I voted for yes. Kris was with me on it. But if we remove the top deep and the queen was in it and she fell out because we set it down and we didn't know?.....*cricket, cricket, cricket* So, the plan went like this: set the hive lid upside down, take the top deep and  it in the lid so if the queen did fall out we could collect her and reinsert her.

We were pretty proud of ourselves and were feeling really bee-keepy at that point. Then it all went to hell. We pulled the first frame of the bottom deep, then the second. The bottom of the second frame was pendulous with drone cells, half of which we had ripped open when we extracted the frame. Big fat drone larva oozed out. We were mortified. A look down into the hive bottom revealed more drone cells attached from the bottom of the frame to the bottom of the hive. Houston, we have a problem, but what kind and to what extent?

Kris ran for her phone. We got one of the bee-boyfriends on the line he gave us some options - vent the hive, let cool air in, make them think "Tornado" which will distract them from swarm behavior and buy you time because they sound like they are gonna swarm and they will to it at 10 in the morning so be there to watch  and catch your swarm and you will need another hive to put them in....or....you can split your hive. Make them think they actually did it themselves but you will need another hive and another queen. He suggested we go to a website and watch a video on how to split a hive.

We vented the hive, gathered our tools and did the only thing we knew to do - we went to the house and opened a bottle of wine. There we watched a video and decided to call the other bee-boyfriend who said, "Oh just scrape those drone cells off. All droned do is eat and take up space. You don't need them they are beetle magnets."

We felt better after hearing this. We had another glass of wine. Then bee-boyfriend number one called back with different advice: put another deep on top to give them more to do. They will forget about swarmning. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

So, you will forgive me tonight if there are no awesome pictures of our bees. Trust when I say they were magnificent and we didn't get stung twice in a row. We think we have a plan for tomorrow at 6 and there may be pics then. For now, however, we have more problems than pictures and clearly not enough wine to go around.

Peace,
Karen

No Stings - once in a row

On Sunday we went in to treat the hives for the last time. We were advised by our bee guys to do this. So they got a medication for bee diarrhea and one for a bacteria that wrecks our brood. Either way we are done with that sort of thing unless we some other problem crop up.

We checked for eggs, brood and stores. Stores are pollen cells and honey cells both capped and uncapped. We had all these things! Our bees are doing what they are supposed to do. We saw two of our three queens and on one of the frames we saw a brand new bee emerging into the world.

I'm proud to say that we went into all three hives and for the first time no one got stung! Kris, Bill and I were pretty impressed with ourselves on this one and fist bumps abounded.

Below are a few of my favorite pictures from our day.

Peace,
Karen

The queen is the long bee in the center.

Kris pulling a frame of bees

Bees just hanging out on Kristine's hat.

Looking into the hive.

Community - A blog by Kris

I have never blogged before, and I am really enjoying following Karen's blog about our bee journey. But it is more than a bee journey, it is a human journey. I have wanted to keep bees, but I don't think I would have had the courage to do it alone. Once I had recruited partners, there was no turning back and I did it. My friends  provided me courage and I thank them for that.

Our bee journey has also been an opportunity to allow new friendships to flourish. Bill, Karen and I, and our spouses, have become good friends. David and Mike have become canoeing buddies. I look forward to a season of frequent get-togethers to tend bees and tend friendships.

Finally, this fledgling bee journey has reminded me of the importance of community.  I have been introduced to veteran bee keepers Les and Lyle. Both have willingly and frequently offered advice and support in the practicalities of bee keeping.  Without their help, I am certain we would have failed. They both take time to answer my questions whenever I call, and I have been to both of their homes on numerous occasions for hands on help. Both Les and Lyle want us to succeed and I thank them both for their wisdom, humor and tolerance.

This is a journey well beyond bees.

Kris

First Hive Inspection

We have this super hive. It's in the box we bought from Lyle. As you recall from Sunday Lyle is the bee guy in Benedict who rescued us with the correct feeders.  Lyle's Hive, as it is now known, is our strongest and most aggressive hive. Today we felt it prudent to check on this one, or rather into this one, to make sure it wasn't going rouge on us.

The pics below are from our first hive inspection. It is thriving. So much so we added a second deep to it. We also cut off a developing queen cell. Hopefully the extra room will prevent the hive from rearing a second queen to split with half of the hive and also settle this colony down a bit. Kris has taken more than her fair share of stings from these ladies and apparently they depantsed Bill yesterday. I can't say more about the latter and there is no photo evidence. We just take Bill at his word.

Peace,
Karen

 Smoking the hive

Bees at the entrance to the hive. Notice the closest two. One is taking nectar from the other.

 Looking into the hive from the inner lid.

 The Queen is the brightest yellow bee in the center of the pic.

 Capped brood. Pollen cells (yellow). Larva in cells (white)

Bill holding up a frame of bees.

Bee Emergency

 (Our bees. Pollen patty top left. Beetle trap top right)

What constitutes a bee emergency? Drowning.

We got our hives home on Friday and set them up. Two with a basin type feeders and one with a two hole canning jar thingy. The canning jar rig is about how you'd imagine. A piece of wood with two holes the size of canning jar rings. You poke holes in the lid of a canning jar and invert it on the top of the hive.  Holds two quarts of sugar water. Nothing hi-tech.

For the basin type feeder picture, if you will, a cleaning caddy with a handle in the middle. Cover the handle and the opening of the handle with hardware cloth. Now fill each side up with half a gallon of sugar water and basically you have a basin feeder. The idea being that the bees will crawl down the wire to sip the sugar water and then head downstairs to the hive to work, make honey etc. Holds two half gallons of sugar water.

We are giving our bee buddies sugar water in order to jump start them. It's barely spring here and we are a bit low on flowers at the moment. We pitched in a pollen paddy for extra protein. We also installed a beetle trap to catch any nasties that think they want to move in to the hive. We are trying to be good bee keepers.

So, imagine Kris' horror on Sunday when she lifts the lid on one of the hives and sees bee bodies "swimmin' with the fishes". She also notices more dead bees out in front of the two hives with the basins than the one with the canning jars (which happens to also be our Super Hive). What to do?

Call Lyle (this is Kris other bee boyfriend). He says we have to switch to canning jar feeders and we can come get the set up from him. So, Kris and I make a "haulin' ass" run down to Benedict; about an hour and a half round trip. We find out that the basin in this climate also cools down the hive because it can hold so much liquid. The bees try to warm up the hive. Their heat hits the bottom of the basin and causes moisture. This is no good. Bees do not like saunas.

Back home, Kris and I suit up. Kris suits up. I put on gloves and my bee veil. We replace the feeders. The sun comes out. Our bees look happy. We have all just survived our first "Bee Emergency". Kris and I go pour wine. Two bottles of wine.

Peace,
Karen

Installing Bees

This is us getting our bees.

 

Peace,

Karen

Our Bees

If you ask Kris she will tell you it took 5 hours to drive to Clearbrook. For the rest of us it took about 45 minutes. It's not that we weren't excited it's just that this is Kris' baby and we have been graciously invited along on her incredible journey.

We arrived in Clearbrook and promptly drove past the bee yard. We turned around in a driveway where the sign read "Honey" and went back. What we saw Mike aptly described as a scene from the X-files. There were people, mostly guys, in white bee suits, gloves and white pith helmets covered in netting. Bees were everywhere. They clung in clusters to the people handling them,they hung in small clouds above the open nucs, they filled up trunks, toppers and in some cases the inside of cars. As we drove in there was a guy driving out in his hatchback. He was still in his suit and the car was full of bees. He was certainly not a desirable traffic stop.

Our buddy Les was there to direct us. We donned our suits and got in line to get our bees. Now, apparently, bee keepers have a sense of humor and we were teased by one of the guys that since we were newbies we were to be given inferior hives because we wouldn't know any better. As it turned out, one of the nucs we were going to get had a sealed queen cell. The guys set this one aside because there were "shenanigans going on with this hive and it looked like it was going to supersede." In other words the hive was raising a new queen because they perceived a problem with their old queen.

Not getting that nuc turned out to be a good thing because the next nuc was a huge thriving hive. We have been calling it our Super Hive. Dana took a second and showed us the queen on one of the frames. He pointed out a drone which he called a big bull. He also showed us capped pollen cells, capped honey cells, worker cells, drone cells, eggs and larva. I just wanted to get my hands on a frame.

"They are your bees." Dana said as he handed me a frame. The weight of the frame with the bees was surprising. Even more so was the vibration I could feel through my gloves. Bees, hundreds of bees, all working toward a common goal just like Kris and Bill and me. They are our bees. OUR bees!

Now our adventure is real. We are all excited and nervous in our own way. For me this is a big bucket list item come true. I've wanted this for years and thanks to Kris the wanting is over. Now the Odyssey begins.

Thanks Kris!


Peace,
Karen

Yes, We Have No Bananas

 It's a tough day. All of us are waiting as fast as we can to go get our bees. Facebook has been a flurry of activity, not unlike a bee hive. Messages are flying back and forth. Plans are tweeked. Lists are being made and remade and schedules are being rearranged.

I think my day is a little tougher than Kris and Bill's because I can't have a banana. I, like my dad before me, eat a banana every day. I either peel and eat one or blend it into my morning green juice. Today, however, I am bananaless. I could have a banana if I wanted and I could entice a bee sting if I wanted to but I don't. That's what eating a banana could do.


 It turns out that when a bee stings, she releases an odor called an alarm pheromone to alert others to the danger. This alarm pheromone smells like bananas and attracts other bees to come to the defense of the hive. This is why eating a banana and waltzing into a bee yard is a bad idea.

Today, I stopped at the grocery store. I grabbed a plastic bag, slipped my hand inside it, grabbed a bunch of bananas and turned the bag inside out around them. When I turned around a lady was staring at me. "Bees" was all I said.  I think she bought apples.

Peace,
Karen

Building a Foundation

Bees don't just arrive, get dumped into a hive and go to work. There is some prep work involved. We have brand new hives with  brand new foundation and we have Dee to tell you what we are doing with that foundation and why.

As promised, a word from our spokes model Dee Sweeney.


Peace,
Karen